Dangerous Secrets
by kaginufan88
Summary: FBI agent Kagome Shikon has the perfect marriage with her lawyer husband Naraku. At least that's what she wants everyone to think. When her partner Inuyasha Takahashi and her friends learn the truth will it be too late to save her? KagInu, SesKagu, MirSan
1. Chapter 1

1**Hey guys! I decided to write another fic. I hope you like this one. It's really different from my first one. It's AU, but it's pretty good (I think) Happy reading!**

**kaginufan88**

_Summary: Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku are FBI agents. Kagome is married to Naraku Shikon, and he is beating her on a regular basis. Her partner Inuyasha and their friends are trying to find a safe way to get Kagome and the kids away from him. Will they succeed?_

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. :(**

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**Dangerous Secrets chapter 1: Memories and Real Life Nightmares**

_It was too quiet, too dark._

_She slowly made her way down the darkened hallway, her loaded gun drawn._

_She reached the first door, quickly checking her surroundings before slowly walking into the room. _

_She saw the desk in front of her, and quickly walked towards it._

"_I'm in," she whispered into her hidden microphone._

"_Good," a voice responded from behind her._

_She froze, knowing that whatever happened next was not going to be good._

"_Oh no," she whispered._

_She turned to shoot him just as a shot echoed throughout the building._

"No!" she yelled.

She looked around her, noticing the time on her bedside clock.

3:30 a.m.

_Great, another nightmare,_ she thought to herself as she looked over to where her husband lay sleeping.

_Thank God he didn't wake up._

She got out of bed and walked out of the room. She walked down the hallway, checking to make sure the kids were still asleep before she walked down the stairs to the kitchen.

She opened one of the drawers underneath the counter, lifting up the cutting board to pull her journal out of its hiding place.

She closed the drawer and sat down at the table.

_August 3__rd__, 2007._

_I had another nightmare. It wasn't as bad this time. I didn't remember everything. The kids were particularly loud today. Maybe I should have a little talk with them. I can't wait until I leave for work. It is getting harder and harder to stay here. I can't keep things hidden for much longer. Sango is bound to notice something. She already suspects that Naraku is back to his old tricks. And if Inuyasha ever found out…Naraku would kill the kids and me. I don't know what to do anymore. Maybe things will work themselves out._

_But they never do,_ she thought as she put her journal back in its hiding place. She walked over to the window, looking out at all the other darkened houses. She her hand moved up to touch the fresh bruise on her upper arm. _He's getting worse._ She closed her eyes against the tears that were threatening to fall.

_He'll change… he's going to change… he has to change…_

And with that thought, Kagome Higurashi Shikon turned out the lights and went back to bed.

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Later that morning, Kagome gave a deep sigh as she climbed out of her car. She locked her car door and quickly set off towards the entrance of the building that loomed in front of her, her gaze set upon the brownish gray of the sidewalk beneath her feet.

"Hey Kagome!"

Kagome lifted her eyes to meet those of her friend. "Oh hey Sango! How's the Bryant case going?"

"No where. We're running out of evidence. I think the perp is going to get away with this one."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

The two walked inside FBI headquarters, making their way through the much hated, yet much needed clearance gate.

"How are the kids?"

"They are great," Kagome said as they took the elevator to the 8th floor. "They are actually happy to be in school. Can you believe that? Happy. I remember that we always hated school."

"True. But our school was boring."

"Yeah, that is true."

The women got off the elevator and walked down the hallway to their offices.

"Well, see ya later Kags!"

"See ya Sango."

Kagome walked into her office and sat down at her desk. She closed her eyes and smiled, happy to be at work.

"I've never seen anyone so happy to be at work. What are you, insane?"

She opened her eyes to throw a carefree glare at the smirking man who had just walked into the room.

"No, Inuyasha. I'm just different."

Inuyasha smiled at his partner. _I love it when he smiles. _Whoa! Kagome frowned slightly as her mind did I double take. She had just put her partner and the word love in the same sentence. She couldn't afford to be thinking things like this. Not now…

"Why are you wearing long sleeves again? It's 90 degrees in here."

She jumped slightly, coming out of her thoughts, and he couldn't help but notice a look of ill-disguised fear cross her features.

"Umm, I just like wearing long sleeves."

He shook his head, reluctantly letting her get away with lying to him again.

_I know that she is hiding something._

"So, how are the twins?" he asked, taking in the way her eyes softened at the mention of her kids.

"They are wonderful. They can't wait until you take them to the park again. They're always asking about you. I think that you might have some miniature stalkers on your hands."

Inuyasha laughed as he sat down at his desk in front of hers.

"Tell them that I will take them to the park this weekend."

"Ok."

_**RING…RING…**_

"Higurashi … Oh, hi honey."

Inuyasha looked up, frowning at the change in Kagome's voice.

"I have to work late tonight."

_No she doesn't. She gets off at 4. _Inuyasha thought, focusing more on her odd behavior towards her husband.

He saw her eyes widen, and strained to hear what Naraku was telling her.

"I'm sorry. I'll try to get home earlier … Ok … You too … Bye."

"What was that all about?"

"Oh, it was nothing." She saw the look on his face and said, "Really. It was nothing"

Inuyasha sighed, walking over to her desk. He leaned down to stare her directly in the eyes.

"Kagome, why are you lying to me? You know that I can tell when you're lying. I was trained to do that. And you lied to Naraku. I know that for a fact that you get off work at 4 just like Sango, Miroku, and me. You have been acting strange for a while now, I just haven't said anything. Now why won't you tell me what's wrong."

_I wish that I could._

"Nothing is wrong Inuyasha. Naraku just wanted me to go to some dinner party with him tonight and I lied to him in order to get out of it. You know how I hate the whole social scene. I'm going to take the kids to Sango's for dinner tonight."

"Alright. I'll accept that answer for now. But you've got to promise me that you'll come to me if something's wrong. I know that you're not telling me everything."

"Ok. I promise. And I've told you everything that you need to know."

"Ok. Let's get to work then."

_I know that you are hiding something else from me. If it has anything to do with that bastard husband of yours, I'm going to kill him._

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Naraku Shikon sat at his desk, thinking about what he should do to his wife.

_She lied to me again._

He picked up the phone and called his friend Koga. Agent Tama worked on the same floor as his wife and all her friends. He'd know what time she really got off of work.

"Hey Koga. I have a question for you. What time does my wife get off of work today? … 4 p.m.? That's what I thought. Thanks buddy."

_Oh, Kagome. You should know better than to lie to me. You'll regret this._

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"Mommy, Mommy! Hi Mommy!"

Kagome smiled and bent down to hug her twins.

"Hey guys. How was school today?" she asked as she opened the door of her SUV and helped the 5-year-olds into the car.

"School was great! A lady ossifer came to our class today and we told her that our Mommy was an FBI agent and she said that that was great and we got ice cream and pizza!"

"Wow, Shippo! It sounds like you guys had an awesome day." She mussed the little boy's hair as she closed his door, grabbing her daughter's hand and walking her to the other side of the car.

"We did Mommy. And Ms. Kaede said that we was the best artists in our class!"

"That's wonderful, Kanna! I'm so proud of you two." She made sure both of them were buckled up before closing the door again and getting into the driver's seat.

She turned the key in the ignition, and began driving down the road in the opposite direction of their house.

"Hey guys. I have a surprise for you. We are going to Aunt Sango's for dinner tonight."

"YAY!!!"

When the group reached Sango's house, Shippo and Kanna ran out of the car towards the front door. Sango opened it just in time to have the twins grab onto her legs.

"Hi guys," she said, smiling as her friend came walking up the walkway.

"Ok you two. Run along and play while Aunt Sango and I get dinner ready."

"Ok Mommy!" the twins yelled as they ran inside.

The two women walked into Sango's kitchen and began to cook supper.

"So tell me, Kagome. What has he done this time?"

Kagome's movements stilled at her friend's quiet words. Sango was the only person Kagome had ever told about her abuse.

"Things are getting worse. I thought things would get better if I just listened better. But no matter what I do, it's never enough."

"You need to leave him, Kagome. You'll die if you don't get out of there soon."

"He will just follow me and kill me then. You know that, Sango."

"Then you should tell Inuyasha."

"No!"

Sango raised her eyebrows up in surprise.

"Why not? You know that he would do anything to protect you and the kids."

"I know that," she said, lowering her eyes to the ground. "But I just can't tell him. If he knew what Naraku has done to me, he would kill him. I wouldn't be able to live with myself after that."

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "But at least let me tell Miroku."

"Fine. But only as long as he promises not to tell Inuyasha."

"I really don't see why we can't tell him. If he finds out on his own, he'll just get even angrier and kill Naraku anyway. And he wouldn't kill him if you asked him not to. You know that. With Inuyasha's help and his brother's connections we can safely get you and the kids out of there."

"I know that what you're saying is true, but I just can't tell him. I don't know why, but I can't."

"Well, if you end up hurt really bad again like last time, I'll tell him myself. And that's a promise."

"Naraku won't go that far again. He knows better. Excuses for the first time were hard enough to come up with. If something like that happens again it'll look suspicious."

Sango stopped stirring the Ramen in the pot to stare at her best friend. "I don't know how you can speak so calmly about beatings that your husband has given you. You really need to get out of there, honey."

Kagome just stared out the window, thinking over everything her friend told her.

_Why am I so calm about all of this? I should be out of my mind, panicking, maybe. But instead I'm standing here, acting all calm, like nothing is unusual about my situation. Maybe I really should focus on getting out of there. But how am I ever going to do that?_

Kagome sighed and called the children down for supper. She'd think about those things some other time. Right now she had kids to feed.

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Naraku Shikon arrived at his house that night with vengeance on his mind. He had been raised to believe that a woman's duty was first to her husband.

And his wife had lied to him.

His Kagome had been dutiful enough when they had married eight years before, but people changed. And she had turned into a lying bitch that didn't know her place.

He walked up to his front door, noticing that the lights were out in the hall. After he got in, he looked around at the darkened rooms, noticing how still and quiet the house was.

"Hmm, the bitch must have gone to sleep already."

He dropped his keys on the table next to the door, hung his coat on the rack, and made his way upstairs. There was no light shining beneath his children's closed door_. She must have sent them to bed, as well_. He walked down the hall, noticing the faint glow coming from beneath his own door before quietly opening it.

The television was on, tuned to _Court TV_, his wife's favorite channel. He flicked the light switch on, and walked over to the nightstand. He grabbed the remote control and turned the TV off just as Catherine Crier came on to sign off. "Stupid reruns," he muttered as the room went silent.

He watched as his wife slowly came awake. She yawned and stretched, sitting up with a sigh. She glanced at the TV, then looked over to find the remote.

She jumped when she saw him, sending a wave of satisfaction through him.

"Naraku, honey, when did you get home? Did you have a nice day at work?"

He smiled at her, setting the remote back down. "Actually I did. It was a very _informative_ day, to say the least."

She frowned in confusion. "Ok… well, that's good, honey."

"Good for me. Not so much for you."

"What?"

He stalked over to her, pulling her up by her T-shirt. "Do you think that I'm stupid? Did you really think that I wouldn't find out?" He threw her to the floor, speaking again before she could answer. "I called a buddy of mine in your department. He told me that you got off work today at four. You weren't working late at all. Now, why, I ask myself, would my loving, faithful wife lie about something like that? Well, why?"

"Naraku, I got my days mixed up. I'm working late tomorrow. I didn't realize my mistake until it was too late to call you back, so I took the kids over to Sango's for dinner. I didn't intentionally lie to you."

"Oh yes you did, you little bitch!"

He kicked her hard in the stomach before reaching down to bring her to her feet once more.

"You should have known better Kagome. I guess I'm going to have to teach you a lesson."

He threw her down on the bed, and she cried out from pain in her ribs.

As the night wore on, the rest of the world lay in blissful ignorance as Kagome Higurashi Shikon silently wished that she could do the same.

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Well, what do you guys think? Like it? Hate it? I know it's a little short, but I need to set things up. Let me know what you think. REVIEW!!! Ok, I'm signing off.

**kaginufan88**


	2. This Is What We're Up Against

**Author's note: All of the characters look pretty much the same physically, except none of them are demons. They are all humans. Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru still have silver hair. The only major differences are that Kanna now has dark hair and eyes like her brother, and Kagura will have green eyes when she appears later on.**

**I don't own Inuyasha, Minesweeper, Candyland, "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne, or Coke**

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**Dangerous Secrets chapter 2: This Is What We're Up Against**

_I hate mornings._

This thought kept running through Sango Taijiya's mind as she got ready to go to work. Her best friend Kagome Shikon could get up at the crack of dawn and be as happy as a clam. But Sango hated mornings.

"I don't see why we have to show up at 7 in the damn morning! All of the criminals are going to be sleeping, so why the hell shouldn't we?!?" she muttered to herself as she locked the front door to her house.

Her drive to work was uneventful. Traffic was especially bad that morning. And it was just her luck that she had to get on the beltway to go to work.

"I really hate DC. Why does the capital have to be here?!?"

She was in a bad mood by the time she got to her office. Her partner was already there, working on his top-secret game of Minesweeper on his computer. He looked up when she walked in and threw all of her stuff in the corner.

"Hey Sango. Having another bad morning?"

"Yeah, Miroku, and it just got worse."

Miroku Kazanna playfully smiled and leaned back in his chair. "Aww, come on now Sango, don't be like that! You know I love you."

"Oh yeah, that's why you're always asking women to bear your children. You just love me to pieces. Let me guess. You want to 'share the love' or something philosophical bull shit?"

"Sango, you hurt me. I may just have to turn you in for being half an hour late again."

"Miroku, if you value your life you won't dare."

"Don't worry. I'm not going to turn you in. And you're not the only one that's late. Kagome hasn't shown up yet either."

Sango immediately tensed. "She hasn't come in yet?"

"Nope. Actually, Inuyasha and I thought that she might come in with you, but I guess something's up with the kids."

Sango rushed over to her desk and grabbed the phone, hurriedly dialing her friend's cell phone number.

"Sango, what's wrong?"

"Maybe nothing," she said as the phone rang.

She hung up the phone as a look of fear crossed her features. "She's not answering. I'll try the house phone."

Miroku was about to ask her what was wrong when a look of relief came upon Sango's face.

"Kagome! You're alright. I was worried about you! Why haven't you… Kags, what's wrong? … Kagome calm down! … Kagome, sweetie, where are you?"

At that moment a frustrated Inuyasha stalked into the room.

"Where the hell is she?!?" he wondered out loud.

"Shh!" Miroku said and pointed to Sango.

"Kags, I'm on my way over there right now. Don't you move. If something happens I want you to call my cell right away, ok?" She hung up before her friend could answer her, stalking over to the corner to grab her purse.

"Sango, what the hell is going on? What's wrong with Kagome?"

Sango paled and looked down before she said anything. She couldn't look Inuyasha in the eye.

"Guys, there's something that you guys should know."

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Naraku arrived at work feeling better then he had in a very long time. He hadn't gotten much sleep that night, but it was worth it.

He thought that he had finally gotten to Kagome. All she needed was some reminding of where her place was. He had made sure that she had known exactly where that place was before he went to sleep. He had gently reminded her again this morning before he left for work.

She wouldn't go to work herself that morning, he thought as he entered his law firm. But he didn't care. He should come before her work anyway. She needed to learn that.

And he was the best teacher at this particular curriculum.

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Two cars screeched to a halt in front of the Shikon residence.

Inuyasha rushed out of the first one, not even bothering to turn his car off.

"Inuyasha!" Sango yelled as she ran up behind him. "Let me go in first. She's not expecting the two of you to be here."

"Well, if she had told me what was going on, maybe we wouldn't have to be here!"

"Look, I know you're mad."

"No! You have no idea how I feel right now, Sango"

Miroku came up behind them. "Look, Inuyasha. Sango isn't the one you should be mad at. Let her go in first and calm Kagome down."

"Fine. But I'm going to check on the kids."

"Alright," she said as she put her key in the lock.

She opened the door carefully, and the three of them walked slowly into the house. They were all on edge, even though they knew that Naraku was at his office.

The house was dark and quiet, lingering feelings of fear and menace lurking in every corner of every room. The table in the front hall was turned over, broken glass glittered on the floor of the hall. The trio made its way up the stairs, noticing more broken glass in the upstairs hall, along with an array of broken items.

"Oh, God," Miroku whispered as he and Sango made their way down the hall towards Kagome's bedroom.

Inuyasha watched them walk down the hall, letting them reach her door before turning to opened the twins' door.

"Guys? Is anyone in here? It's Inuyasha."

He walked into the room, one look telling him that they weren't in their beds. He closed the door and, noticing the darkness, flicked up the light switch on the wall.

"Shippo? Kanna? Are you guys in here?"

"Inuyasha?"

He turned around, saw one little head poking out of the closet. "Shippo. Is your sister in there with you?"

"Yes. Is my mommy ok?"

"Your mommy is going to be just fine. Why don't the two of you come on out of there."

He watched with a heavy heart as the two children hesitantly came out of the closet and looked around their bedroom with fear in their eyes.

"Your dad went to work. He's not here anymore. Are you two alright?"

Kanna looked up at him, her dark eyes brimming with tears as she ran up to him and asked, "Are you going to take us away from here?"

Inuyasha dropped down to his knees, reaching out and pulling the two kids to him, not wanting them to see his tears as they finally spilled over and ran silently down his face.

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Sango hesitated before opening the door. She turned and stared at Miroku for a moment.

"Miroku, it might be better if I go in alone. Would you please go downstairs and clean things up a little bit? It would probably be easier for Kagome to relax if things are clean down there. I'm not staying up here with her. We'll be going down to the kitchen."

She knew that she was babbling, but Miroku understood and gave her a firm hug before letting her go to walk back down the hallway.

"I'll clean as fast as I can."

She waited until he disappeared down the stairs before opening the door to Kagome's bedroom.

The first thing she noticed was the absolute disorder in the room. The lamp that had once been on the nightstand was broken on the floor on the other side of the room. Everything that had been on he vanity was now strewn across the floor. Mirrors were broken, clothes were lying all over the place, the only thing relatively neat about the room being Naraku's dresser and desk against the far wall.

"Kagome, honey? Where are you?"

"Sango…?"

Sango's eyes immediately diverted to the corner behind the door.

"Kagome!"

She found her friend hunched in the corner, wearing nothing but a white robe wrapped protectively around her like a shield. Her tearstained face appeared to be untouched, but the rest of her body hadn't faired so well. Bruises lined up and down her legs, having already turned brown, black and ugly shades of green. Her feet were bleeding from where she had stepped on broken glass. Her hands were bruised from fighting back, making way for the bruises that moved up and under the sleeves of her robe. Sango was sure that there was more, unseen damage under the robe, but right now it was her friend's mental state that she wanted to mend.

"Kagome," she said softly as she knelt down and sat beside her. "Honey, I need you to tell me what happened."

For a few minutes she didn't say anything. She just stared out into space. Sango was about to ask again when Kagome began talking, so softly at first that Sango had to lean in close to hear.

"I lied to him."

"Lied to him about what?"

"He called me yesterday at work and asked me what time I was going to get off. I told him that I was working late. He called one of his buddies in the department and found out that I was only working until four. He didn't get home until late. He was mad at me because I lied."

When Kagome stopped talking, Sango reached over and pulled her close to her. "What happened when he got home?"

"He beat me first, raging about a woman's place and her duty to her husband," she said in disgust. "He didn't force me to… you know… until later. That came after he 'gave me a lesson' that I needed to learn. I don't remember much after that, but I know that somehow we ended up downstairs in the kitchen. He beat me again down there. I guess he must have left me down there when I passed out because I woke up this morning to him kicking me on the floor. He beat me again before he left for work, saying that it might be best for me and the kids to stay at home for the day. To 'reflect on what we've learned', he said."

She began to cry burrowed against Sango as she emphatically whispered, "I hate him. I HATE him!!"

Sango held her tightly, waiting until she had calmed down before she spoke.

"Kagome, there's something I need to tell you." She waited until Kagome pulled back to look at her before she continued. "I got in late for work today. Inuyasha was already worried about where you were and him and Miroku were both in the room when I called you."

"What do you mean? What are trying to say, Sango?"

"They wanted to know what was going on. You know that I was going to tell Miroku anyway. I had to tell Inuyasha what was going on."

"Sango…"

"I'm sorry, Kagome. He wouldn't let me leave the room unless I told him. And I told you yesterday that if you got hurt bad again I was going to tell him."

Kagome closed her eyes and whispered, "Where is he?"

"He's down the hall with Shippo and Kanna. We thought it would be best for me to talk to you, so he decided that he would make sure the kids were alright."

"And Miroku?"

"Miroku is downstairs in the kitchen, cleaning things up."

"He doesn't have to do that."

"He knows that, Kags. But he needed something to do."

Kagome managed a small laugh at that. "Well, he's not very good at emotions is he?"

Sango laughed and said, "No, no he's not."

She stood up and reached down a hand to help Kagome up. "Come on, girl, let's get you cleaned up. I don't think you want the guys to see you like this."

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Half an hour later, the two women headed down the stairs, carefully walking through a field of broken glass.

"I really should clean this up before the kids cut themselves."

"Don't worry, Kags. We'll let Miroku do it."

When they got to the kitchen, they found it almost as good as new.

And a slightly disheveled Miroku coming out of the pantry singing "Girlfriend" and dancing with the mop.

When he saw the women, he paled and calmly turned around to put the mop back.

"Hey guys! What do you think of the kitchen?"

"I'm thinking that it would make a wonderful video setting for your version of that song. What do you think Kags?"

"I have to agree Sango. But I don't know if the acoustics in this room are of good enough quality for the caliber of the performance that we just had the pleasure of experiencing."

They giggled as Miroku turned red. "You're not going to let me live that one down, are you?" he asked, glaring wearily at Sango.

"No way in hell, buddy."

He laughed and closed the pantry door. After a moment he became serious again as he asked, "So, Kagome. Are you ok?"

"I am now that all of you guys are here. And now that my kitchen is clean."

"Mommy!"

She turned just as two children came running into the room towards her, automatically dropping to her knees in front of them.

"Oh, guys, are you alright?"

"Were ok. Did Daddy hurt you again?"

Kagome stared into her son's eyes before pulling him close. "Your Daddy is sick. But things are going to be alright now."

Kanna looked her mother in the eyes and said, "Can we all leave here and live with Inuyasha? We really like him."

Kagome looked up to stare in the eyes of the man that had just walked into the room.

"They've been asking me that all morning."

She looked down again, into the pleading eyes of her daughter. "I don't know yet, Kanna. We'll have to see what happens, ok?"

"Alright."

She pulled Kanna close as well, giving her kids one last squeeze before letting them go to stand up straight. "Why don't you guys go in the living room and play a game? I'm sure Miroku would love to play one with you." She looked up and sent him a pleading glance.

Seeing it, he immediately plastered a big smile on his face. "Yeah! Come on guys! I'm the king of Candyland."

He came over and took one of their hands in each of his.

"I don't think so!" she heard her son say as they walked out of the room. "I'm the king of Candyland!"

"Hey! What about me?!? I'm the queen of Candyland, you know!"

Sango smiled, but the other two adults were too busy staring at each other to pay any attention. After about a minute of stressed silence, Sango walked out of the room.

"I think I'll go in there and show them who the real queen of Candyland is. I'll let you two talk."

They didn't acknowledge her as she walked out. They just kept staring. Finally, Inuyasha was able to break the silence.

"How bad did he hurt you?"

Kagome winced at the pain and the anger that laced his words.

"Not as bad as he could have, as he has before."

"Why didn't you tell me? You know I would do anything for you."

"I do know that. I don't why. I've never been able to bring myself to tell you anything about it. It took all that I had to tell Sango, and she's been my best friend since we were kids."

"You had better tell me not to kill him because unless you do, I'll go out there right now and kill the bastard."

"No, you can't do that."

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't."

"Because that would be stooping down to his level. And I would never want you be all the way down there."

He walked up to her, gently grabbing her shoulders as he leaned his forehead down to touch hers.

"I'm going to get you out of here. I'm going to take you and the kids and make sure that he doesn't touch any of you again."

She believed his words, and the river of tears that she had been holding back overflowed as he pulled her tightly against him. It seemed that all of the strength she had left her as soon as she felt his arms around her. But even as her legs grew weak and gave out beneath her, he sank with her to the ground, holding her close as he leaned back against the wall. She burrowed her head into his chest, her tears coming out in uncontrollable sobs. For the first time in over five years she felt safe, and it scared her.

He held on to her even after her tears subsided, merely shifting with her when she moved to find a more comfortable position. Now that he was holding her he never wanted to let her go. The impact of that thought shook him as he realized the implications of it.

_When did I fall in love with her?_

Surprisingly, that thought didn't shock him the way he thought it would. But then again, who was he kidding? He'd fallen for her the first time he had walked onto a scene and his high hopes of impressing his new partner were shot down. He still remembered the annoyed look on her face when she told him not to slow her down. She had always been so tough, and he had never expected that her seemingly perfect relationship with Naraku had all been a lie.

When she had calmed down, he calmly began questioning her.

"When did all of this start?"

"Right after the Haori case."

The Haori case. A mob bust that happened over 5 years ago. He remembered all too well the consequences of that case.

"Surely he didn't think that _that_ was your fault?!?"

"You'd be surprised what he could blame on me. He said that I should have been more careful, that I shouldn't have gotten caught. That it was my own fault for going in there, thinking that I could get away with it."

"_Your_ fault? That monster shot you, beat you, raped you, and then left you for dead. How the hell is that your fault?!?"

"It's not. He just thinks it is."

"Ok, so all of this started because he thinks that a bad ending to a case is your fault?"

"Well, no, not entirely."

Inuyasha gave an exasperated sigh. "Ok, then what _entirely_ caused this?"

"Well, it mainly has to do with the kids. At least, that's what I think it's all about."

He pulled away from her to stare down in shocked confusion. "The kids? How do they figure into this?"

"They're not his."

"Whoa, really? But, if they're not his then who's… oh!" He gasped and his eyes widened as he finally pieced things together. "The Haori case…"

"Exactly. Hojo Haori is the father of the twins. Both of us knew when we found out that I was pregnant that he wasn't the father. We had been arguing a lot before the case even started."

"Damn. I can see why the man would be upset, but you had no control over that. It wasn't your fault."

"But it left him bitter. And he was also raised to believe that a woman's duty was to her husband, that a woman should know her place. In hindsight, I never a stood a chance at having a good marriage. I just didn't realize it at the time."

"Well, that's his fault. Not yours. You don't deserve this. I promise that I'll get you out of here."

"How? Naraku has more connections than you could possibly imagine, and not all of them are legal if you know what I mean."

"Legal? Mob connections?"

Kagome sighed and closed her eyes. "I don't know. I think so. I've tried to do research, but he has so many connections inside the department that it's nearly impossible to get anywhere with it without him knowing."

"Do you know who his contacts are in the department?"

"Well, I know that Koga Tama is one of them. He keeps him up to date on everything from my schedule to open cases that may interest him. And I think that my cousin Kikyo Higurashi also provides him with information not only from the department, but also from my family."

"Damn. You can't even talk to your own family without him knowing it about it."

"I know," she said, opening her eyes to look at him. "I can't take the kids and go to my mother's. I can't call my brother to come and get us. Where else am I supposed to go?"

"Well," Inuyasha said as he stood, grabbing her hand to pull her up beside him. "You guys can always come and stay me."

Shocked, she said, "No we can't!"

"Why not? My house is huge. There's definitely enough space for you guys. The kids like the idea. Actually, they're the ones that pointed it out. And if you say something about it putting me in danger… well, I don't know what I'll do, but don't say it." A look of confusion appeared on his face as he wondered if anything he had said made any sense at all.

Kagome couldn't help but laugh at his confusion. "Alright, I won't say it. But seriously. Even if we did go and stay with you, Naraku would just come and get us. Between him and his connections, there's no way we could get away with it."

"Ah, but my dear Kagome, you are forgetting that I have connections of my own."

"Oh really? And what connections would those be?"

"Well, they are actually my brother's connections, but he likes you so we can use them."

"You would actually go to your brother for help? But I thought that you hated your brother. The high and mighty Sesshoumaru Takahashi."

"Well, we don't actually hate each other. We just clash, I guess you could say. Besides, the man has more connections than the president does. He's damn useful."

She stared at him for a moment before turning to walk over to the refrigerator. "Well," she said as she opened the door. "How about this: you come up with some kind of plan, and I'll think about it and decide whether or not it'll work."

She closed the door and handed him a Coke.

"I guess that'll have to do for now."

"I guess so."

They stood in silence drinking their Cokes, the only sound being the squeals of delight and laughter coming from the living room. Apparently the game of Candyland had been just the thing to take the children's minds off of the situation. From the flow of phrases making its way into the kitchen, Miroku and Shippo were losing miserably in what had apparently turned into a battle of the sexes.

Inuyasha laid down his soda can, and said, "Why don't we go in there and see how badly Sango and Kanna are kicking Miroku's ass."

She laughed and said, "Alright. I need to take my mind off of all these serious things for a little while anyway."

They walked into the living room just as the game ended. Sango and Kanna had beaten the guys in a landslide victory.

"So," Kagome said as she sat down next to Sango. "Are you still the king of Candyland Miroku?"

She grinned and laughed at him when he gave her a hard stare. "Ha ha. That's so amusing, Kagome."

"Well, I thought it was, anyway. What about you, Inuyasha?"

"I think it's absolutely hilarious."

"Oh, this is nothing, Inuyasha," Sango broke in. "You should have seen, and not to mention heard, his interpretation of 'Girlfriend' earlier. It was riveting… and hilarious!"

"Oh my God. Tell me it isn't true! Come on Miroku, please tell me its not true!" Inuyasha pleaded dramatically, earning giggles from the twins.

Miroku groaned and glared at Sango. "Did you have to bring that up?"

"Well, I told you that I wouldn't let you live that one down."

"I know that song!" Kanna said, loudly humming the tune of the song.

"How do you know that song, honey? I'm not sure if you should be listening to that kind of language." Kagome said with a frown.

"Everyone listens to it at school."

"Well, just because everyone else listens to it doesn't mean you have to listen to it."

"Kagome, just be glad that she hadn't picked anything up from Miroku."

Miroku sent Sango a look of feigned hurt. "Now why would you say a thing like that, my dear Sango?"

Sango simply lifted her eyebrow at him, earning laughter from everyone in the room.

The shrill sound the house phone ringing quieted the merry group down almost immediately. Inuyasha made a hard look toward Kagome. At the first ring she had tensed, and he wondered how much more she could take before she broke.

Kagome stood up and swiftly walked into the hallway, hesitating slightly before picking up the phone. She was immediately grateful for the privacy of the small entryway. The name on the caller ID was enough to send a shiver down her spine as she pressed the Talk button. "Hello, honey."

"Kagome, my love. How has your day been so far?"

"It's been ok. What about you?"

"Oh, my day has been wonderful. Absolutely amazing. Of course, days that start out as well as this one did rarely turn out bad. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, yes of course you're right."

"Did you go to work today?"

"No I didn't."

"Well, I think that that's a good thing. Your friends don't need to know what happens in our personal lives. Don't tell them, Kagome. I'll find out. You know I will."

"Don't worry, honey. I won't say anything."

"Well, I'll be home at six. I love you."

"I love you, too."

She hung up the phone, and turned to where her friends were staring at her. She gave them a brave smile and sighed. "Sango, why don't we go in the kitchen and make some lunch. He won't be home until six, so we'll have lunch and then maybe take the kids to the park. What do you guys think?"

The others agreed, opting to spend the rest of the day pretending that everything was ok.

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**I hope you guys liked it. Until next time!**

**kaginufan88**


	3. Great Minds Think Alike

**Alright, here's chapter three! I hope that you like it!**

**Dangerous Secrets chapter 3: Great Minds Think Alike**

Inuyasha Takahashi was not in a good mood as he drove home later on that afternoon.

He had tried his best to keep Kagome's twins happy until him, Sango, and Miroku had to leave, but he knew that it wasn't enough. He had to find a way to safely get them away from that bastard Naraku. And he knew that the only person who might have enough connections to pull it off happened to be his brother. His newly realized love for Kagome and the kids was the only thing that would propel him into seeing his brother, which was exactly what he was on his way to do.

Inuyasha and his brother Sesshoumaru shared the family mansion outside of Georgetown, their joint possession of the place having been written into their father's will years ago. He usually hated the setup, but now he was grateful for it. Now he could use it to his advantage.

He pulled in to the driveway, looking to make sure that his brother's own BMW was parked there. All the way to front door, he was thinking about how he was going to bring the subject of Naraku up. His brother hated Naraku just as much as he did, but would he help Kagome and the kids? He got into the house and walked up two flights of stairs to Sesshoumaru's private office.

I guess I'll find out, he thought as he knocked twice on the door. 

"Come in, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shivered slightly at his brother's cold and unfeeling voice. He had never gotten used to that. He swiftly got over it and opened the door, walking into the thoroughly clean room.

"Close the door behind you," Sesshoumaru said, not even looking up from his paper work.

_Pompous asshole,_ he thought as he closed the door. He silently walked over and sat in one of the chairs in front of his brother's desk. He waited in silence for his brother to look up at him.

"Well, are you going to say anything, or are you just going to sit there and stare."

Inuyasha felt the anger rise in him, and he gripped the arms of his chair tightly to keep from jumping up. "I was letting you finish your work," he said, struggling to stay polite.

Sesshoumaru immediately looked up at his younger brother, surprised that he hadn't lashed out at him as usual. Seeing the seething anger swirling in his eyes, he laid down his pen and gave Inuyasha his full attention. "Something must really be wrong if you're not arguing with me. Or do you need my help with something?"

"Both, actually."

Sesshoumaru stared at him in silence for a few moments before asking quietly, "Are you in trouble?"

"No, I'm not in trouble. But my partner Kagome is."

He watched his older brother's eyebrows raise slightly in surprise. "Agent Shikon? I've never figured her the type to get into trouble."

"Well, she is in trouble. But it's not the kind of trouble you're thinking of. Its personal trouble."

Inuyasha could see the realization dawn on his brother. He knew that he wouldn't have to say anything for Sesshoumaru to realize what and whom he was referring to.

"How long?"

"Over five years."

"Five years?!?" Sesshoumaru stood up and stalked over to the window. "He's been doing this for five years and she's never said anything?"

"He's been using the kids as leverage."

Sesshoumaru turned to stare at his brother. Inuyasha knew that he was fighting to control his anger. Sesshoumaru Takahashi had no tolerance for violence against women and children. He could keep his emotions in check during any situation except for that.

"What exactly do you need my help with?"

Inuyasha couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that tore from him. "We need your help in coming up with a way to get her and the kids away from him safely."

Sesshoumaru stared at him for a moment before sitting down behind his desk. "That's not going to be easy. With his contacts he can find out anything he wants to."

"Surely you're not saying that he has more contacts than you? Better ones?"

"Of course not. All I'm saying is that he can make things very difficult for us. But you know what needs to be done in order to make sure he can't get to them."

"Yeah. Either we stick charges on him or we kill him. Personally I'm all for killing the bastard, but I don't know how well that would go over with everyone."

Sesshoumaru pulled out his cell phone, searching through his contacts for a number.

"There is one person who could help us out. She's a systems analyst and a computer hacker. She's done numerous cases for the FBI."

"A computer hacker who works on the right side of the law?" he asked, suspicion evident in his voice.

"Trust me. I've worked with her before, and she definitely knows what she is doing. She has a personal stake on the subject of Naraku Shikon." Having found the number, he pressed send, waiting for her to answer.

"What do you mean by personal?" Inuyasha asked.

"Naraku's her brother."

Sesshoumaru smiled in amusement at his brother's shocked expression before talking into the phone. "Yes, Kagura. It's Sesshoumaru Takahashi. I need your help again."

Kagome walked quickly down the narrow sidewalk, looking around her to make sure that nobody was following her. She kept telling herself that she was doing the right thing.

After everyone had left her house an hour ago, she had thought about what she could do to find a safe way out. She had called Sango back, telling her that she had somewhere to go before Naraku came home. Her friend immediately came back, agreeing to watch the kids while she was out.

She came to a stop outside a rundown building that was once a free clinic. _Kagura Shikon, Computer Analyst. _Reading the sign next to the door, she told herself once more that everything would be fine and opened the heavy metal door.

She walked slowly into the dimly lit room, noticing that the secretary was not at the desk. Nobody else was in the room and everything was silent, so she decided to walk on back to the office. Getting to the door, she took a deep breath before knocking.

"Come in," a woman said, her voice muffled through the wood.

Kagome opened the door, smiling grimly at the surprised look on her sister-in-law's face.

"Kagome!" she said, standing up and quickly walking around her desk to give her a hug. "What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"Yes, everything's fine. Well, I take that back. Not everything. Actually, I was wondering if you could help me."

"Of course." She ushered her into the seat in front of the desk before taking a seat herself. "What do you need my help with?"

Kagome sighed, unsure of what to say now that she was here. "I really don't know how to say any of this."

Kagura looked at Kagome carefully, noting her unusually heavy makeup and long sleeved shirt.

"Kagome, I've actually been expecting something like this to happen. I'm just relieved that you're the one coming to me instead of one of your friends. It's my brother, isn't it? He's been hurting you, hasn't he."

Kagome couldn't hide her stunned expression. "You knew?"

"Well, no, I didn't actually know. But I was certainly expecting him to do something sometime. You forget, Kagome that I lived in the same house with him for sixteen years. I know what he's like, what he's capable of. I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to do anything before he killed you."

"Wow. I wasn't expecting this. I came here to see if you could do some digging for me. I know that the only way the kids and I will be able to get out is if he's arrested or killed. I don't want him to die. You know Inuyasha, he'd kill Naraku without a second thought."

"Honey, I don't think its Inuyasha Naraku has to worry about. If Inuyasha has gone to his brother for help, then that's where the real danger for Naraku lies. Sesshoumaru is absolutely ruthless when it comes to abusers. He's been known to lose control a couple of times."

"Well, that's even more reason to have him arrested."

Kagura stared at her sister-in-law for a few moments, amazed that the woman could still care about the life of the man who was abusing her. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. I'll definitely help you. It might take a couple of weeks, but I'll find something."

At that moment, Kagura's cell phone rang. Noting the caller ID, she gave Kagome a smile. "Well, what do you know. If it isn't the great Sesshoumaru Takahashi himself. Hello?"

"_Yes, Kagura. It's Sesshoumaru Takahashi. I need your help again."_

"Alright. What do you need my help with?" she asked, grabbing a pen and a piece of paper.

"_I need you to look into your brother's business practices. Look for anything you can find that I can possibly arrest him for."_

Kagura looked up at Kagome. "My brother's business practices? Now, you know that I could care less about whether or not he goes to prison, but could you tell me why I'm supposed to be looking into him?"

"_My brother has informed me about a situation between Naraku and your sister-in-law Kagome that needs to be taken care of."_

"Oh, I see. So you're asking me for help for the same reason she just got through asking me."

"Kagome's there? Right now?" 

"Yes, Takahashi. Kagome is here. Right now."

She heard a pause on his end, and couldn't help but smile in amusement at his loss for words.

"_Well, I guess great minds think alike."_

Kagura laughed quietly. "You know, Sesshoumaru, I think that is the closest you've ever gotten to giving me a compliment. I'll call you when I find out anything important."

She hung up the phone, the smile still on her face. "Well, Kagome. It looks like I have another case. Conspiring against my own brother with his wife… this is going to be interesting."

_(Two Weeks Later)_

Kagura Shikon slammed shut her front door in a fury. Her brother had actually gone to her office that morning to pay her a visit, making her not only angry, but nervous as well.

_He knows I'm up to something,_ she thought as she walked into her kitchen.

Kagura was a well-known systems analyst and freelance computer hacker. She was the best in the business. Most of her hacking cases were done for the FBI. She wasn't like her brother Naraku. She was on the right side of the law.

Her current assignment was technically a FBI case. Just an unofficial one. Her sister-in-law had approached her two weeks ago because of the common link they shared with Naraku. It didn't surprise Kagura one bit that he was abusing her. After hearing Kagome's story, she agreed to do some digging into Naraku's business deals, case files, and anything else that Kagura could find that was suspicious. After two weeks of hard work, Kagura was surprised at the number of 'coincidences' she had found that coincided with Naraku's business and the local Mafia families. Of course, Kagura didn't believe in coincidences. Her brother was dirty.

She gave a heavy sigh as she dropped her purse onto the kitchen counter. It had been a very long day, and she only had an hour before Sesshoumaru Takahashi was supposed to arrive.

The very thought of the mysterious FBI agent sent a wave of heat through her, making her blush.

He had called her while Kagome was in her office. His little brother Inuyasha was Kagome's FBI partner, and he was calling on his behalf. Kagome and Inuyasha were trying to come up with a plan to safely get her and her two kids away from Naraku. Apparently Inuyasha had gone to Sesshoumaru for help, and he was giving it. He had called her earlier that day to ask how the case was going. He was coming tonight to discuss everything she had discovered and she was to turn all of her information over to him at 6 o'clock.

Her blush deepened as she thought more of him. She had never even been interested in a man before in her life.

_Trust me to be attracted to the one man no woman has a chance in hell of being with._

Sesshoumaru Takahashi was known for being the most ruthless FBI agent on this side of the law. He was cold, never giving away any trace of emotion.

Being a woman, Kagura also knew that he was single and one of the hottest men on the planet. Tall with that long silver hair, those hard features, and those amber eyes that could stare right through you. And he never dated. Ever.

She opened the refrigerator door, grabbing a bottle of water before she walked out of the room. She took the stairs two at a time, hurrying to get to her room. She needed to take a quick shower before he arrived.

As she started to walk down the hallway, she noticed a light coming from underneath her office door. She listened carefully, but didn't hear any sounds coming from in there, so she opened the door to go in. She needed to get her computer up and running anyway. The first thing she noticed was that her computer was already on.

The second thing she noticed was the man sitting in her computer chair. She gasped in shock before dropping her open water bottle, water splashing over the floor.

He looked up at her, shock appearing on his own face. "What are you doing home so early? You're not supposed to get off for another hour."

She simply stared at the man, certain that she had never seen in before in her life. "Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?"

"I'm simply taking some information off of your computer. Information that you won't be needing anymore." He crossed his arms and gave her a hard look. "As for who I am, all you need to know is that your brother sent me. Of course, you won't be able to prove that, but he thought you ought to know. You see, he thought you might show up. That may be why he told me that if I encountered any problems I was supposed to take care of them. And you, my dear, have just become a problem."

Catching his intent, she ran out of the room, turning to run down the hall to her bedroom. Her gun was under her pillow on her bed, and all she needed to do was get to it.

She almost made it.

She tore open her bedroom door, dashing for the bed. He caught her by her ponytail even as her leg brushed against the mattress. He pulled her back towards him jerking hard on her hair. He shoved her back towards the doorway, forcing her into the doorframe. She cried out in pain as she made contact with the wood, and he shoved her into the hallway. She stumbled and fell to the floor, trying to crawl away. He reached down and drew her to her feet. He forced her into the office, and for the first time she noticed what he had been doing.

Files were open on her computer screen, all being moved onto the man's laptop that was sitting next to her own desktop. He was moving everything that she had found on her brother off of her computer, getting rid of evidence.

He pushed her to the floor, the shock of impact dazing her for a minute. She looked up to see him pull out what looked like a butcher knife from her own kitchen. She stared at the object in ill-disguised horror before looking into his eyes.

"You know, I love knives. I grabbed this one from your kitchen on the off chance that someone might show up. You don't know how happy that I am that I'm gonna get to use it."

He lunged, and the last thing she thought as she watched the knife come down towards her was whether or not anyone would care if she didn't make it out alive.

Almost an hour later, the man walked out of Kagura's home office with a smug smile on his face, his laptop in one hand and the bloody knife in the other. By the time anyone found her, she'd have bled to death. He'd made sure of that.

He walked down the stairs, stopping in the kitchen to clean her knife and put it back with her other ones. He stalked through her living room and out her front door, not even bothering to close it behind him.

He walked out to his car and drove down the street, passing a shiny black BMW as he turned onto the highway. He'd done his job, and was anxious to get his money from Naraku.

With that thought, he sped off towards DC, never once looking back.

After he left the room, Kagura weakly opened her green eyes. Feeling pain in her hands, she looked over and saw that he had slit her wrists, and they were bleeding profusely. She pulled her arms up and pressed them painfully into her stomach, trying to stop the bleeding.

Feeling consciousness slipping away from her, she looked up at the clock sitting on her bookshelf.

5:58 p.m.

Sesshoumaru would be here any minute. He'd find her, she knew it.

And with that last comforting thought she let the blackness take her.

Sesshoumaru Takahashi was not very happy as he pulled his black BMW into the driveway of Kagura Shikon. His day had been very long and tedious. And now he was meeting his least favorite person Naraku's sister for information.

For some reason, though, he didn't mind seeing the woman nearly as much as he thought he would. He actually liked her, though he had no idea why. She was sarcastic and fairly rude to anyone who got close to her, which weren't that many people. She was a loner who preferred to be left to her own devices. Much like himself, actually.

And she was one damn sexy woman, he had to admit. Very tall and slender with long black hair, a light olive skin tone, and startling green eyes, she was the only woman he had ever met that had actually managed to attract him. She wasn't an anorexic bleached blonde idiot that the female population was turning into. She had meat on her bones, despite the dangerous diet trends of women her age.

He had worked with her on several FBI cases, and he considered her to be a close friend.

_Yeah, and you wish that you were closer to her._

He pushed that thought aside. But he couldn't deny the fact that he couldn't stop thinking about her. He found himself thinking about her during the day, and she plagued his dreams at night. And she was one of the few people that he would actually trust with his life. He'd been using the case on her brother as an excuse to call her for the past two weeks. _Pathetic…_

He walked casually up to the front door of her cramped suburban cookie-cutter house, unease filling him when he noticed that her front door was wide open. He immediately drew his gun, looking around cautiously before entering the house. He worked his was silently through the first floor, seeing nothing that appeared to be out of place. He moved slowly up the stairs, noticing the sheen of water on the floor and the closed door in front of him. He carefully walked over to it, quickly opening the door and walking in. What he saw shocked him.

Kagura was lying, unconscious, on the hardwood floor. She had a few nasty bruises that he could see, but it was the stab wounds that jumped out at him. She had been stabbed repeatedly in the chest, and had one long gash down the side of her face.

He ran over to her, leaning down to feel for a pulse. Finding one, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911, giving them his name, the address and Kagura's condition. After hanging up, he noticed her wrists lying across her stomach. He lifted them up, noticing the slits on them. He got up and ran out to find the bathroom, grabbing a towel and two washcloths. He ran back into the office, pressing the towel into her stab wounds. He gradually took the pressure off and used the washcloths to try and stop the bleeding from the slits on her wrists.

He looked up at her face, a wave of fierce protectiveness coming out of nowhere to wash over him. At that moment he knew that he would hunt down the man who had done this to her, and that fact shook his icy resolve. He didn't know when it had happened, but he had started to fall for her, and he was falling hard.

Inuyasha sat at his desk and sighed at the stack of paper work sitting on it.

6:15 p.m.

Him, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku were pulling a double shift that night, and none of them were happy about it. Sango and Miroku were getting nowhere on the Bryant case, and the Stone murders were at a dead end. He looked up as Kagome walked into the room.

"Hey Kags. Did you get anything?"

Kagome had gone to talk to some relatives of the Stones, hoping to learn something that would shed some light on their gruesome murder.

"Nothing," she said tiredly as she sat down at her desk in front of him. "Apparently, the Stones didn't associate with their family that much. No one knew a damn thing about them or why they might have been killed. Anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing much. Sesshoumaru called about 45 minutes ago to tell me that he was leaving for Kagura's. Personally, I think that he likes her."

"You know what, I was thinking along the same lines."

She smiled and looked at his stack of paper work. "You know, I can fill out some of those forms for you."

"Are you really serious?"

"I don't have anything else to do."

A look of unabashed relief spread across his face. "I would love some help."

She laughed at his expression and grabbed some forms. They sat in easy silence for a few minutes, both of them jumping slightly when Inuyasha's cell phone rang. He sighed when he read the caller ID. "Sesshoumaru. Maybe Kagura found something on Naraku."

He answered the phone with a stern "Takahashi". A tense frown suddenly appeared on his face and he quickly looked up to give Kagome a hard look.

"When?" he asked into the phone.

"Where are they taking her?" He stood and grabbed his car keys, motioning for her to follow him. She grabbed her purse and followed him out the door.

"We'll be right there."

She waited until he had hung up to ask him. "What's wrong?"

"Kagura was attacked in her house. Stabbed and left for dead. Thank God Sesshoumaru arrived there when he did."

"The only case she was working on was mine. She told me that yesterday."

Inuyasha grabbed her hand and pulled her into the elevator, pressing the button to close the door before anyone else could get in. He held her arms firmly, waiting until she looked him in the eyes to speak.

"Kagome, I know that you are thinking that this is your fault. But it's not. We don't know if Naraku is the one behind this. True, your case was the only one she's been working on, but she's worked on dozens of others for the FBI. This may have something to do with one of those cases."

Kagome just stared up at him, seeing the doubt at his own statement shining in his eyes.

When she didn't say anything, he pulled her close and hugged her tightly. "It'll all be over soon, Kags. It'll be over and you'll be safe."

Little did he know, Kagome was thinking that, at that very moment, she felt safer than she had ever felt.

They pulled apart slowly, their eyed meeting once more. They could feel the electricity pulsing between them, the energy. They might have acted on it if the elevator hadn't stopped and the metal doors hadn't have opened.

"We need to go," he whispered as he grabbed her hand pulled her toward the car.

The trip to the hospital was silent, the sexual tension between them all too evident. He pulled into the hospital parking lot, and they both hurried into the building.

They found Sesshoumaru in the waiting room outside the OR. He was just standing there, staring out the window into the night. Inuyasha walked over to him, noticing that his clothes were covered in Kagura's blood.

"Have you heard anything?"

"Nothing. They just took her into the OR."

Inuyasha could hear the barely controlled anger under his brother's usually icy voice. He knew that his brother could explode at any minute. Inuyasha had just turned to take a seat next to Kagome when his brother spoke again, his words quiet and deadly.

"If I find out that he had anything to do with this, I'm going to personally kill him." He glanced over at Kagome. She had been the one insisting on not hurting him.

Kagome stood and walked over to Sesshoumaru, staring him straight in the eyes. "If Naraku had anything to do with this, I won't stand in your way."

The two of them stared at each other for several moments, before Sesshoumaru nodded in agreement. The three of them took seats in the waiting room, all in silent understanding that Naraku had blown all of his chances. He was now a dead man.

**Hope that you liked it!**

**kaginufan88**


	4. I Never Said I'd Take This Lying Down

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**Dangerous Secrets chapter 4: I Never Said I'd Take This Lying Down**

Kagura Shikon first appraised the world with her ears. She could hear the faint sound of a television from somewhere in the room, quiet beeping sounds from her right, footsteps walking past the room she was in. She willed her eyes to open, fighting against the heaviness of them. Her green eyes opened, just to close again with a wince as the bright light hit them. She drew a sharp breath, finally noticing the pain emanating from her left shoulder and her chest, the dull discomfort and stiffness from her wrists. She waited a few seconds, opening her eyes again slowly, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light.

_What the hell happened, _she asked her as she took in her surroundings. She was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to machines.

"How are you feeling?"

Kagura looked over in the direction of the voice, finding Sesshoumaru Takahashi sitting in a chair to her left. Memories of what happened assaulted her immediately, the thought of the events sending an involuntary shudder through her.

"Like I was stabbed," she said with a wry smile.

He smiled tensely back at her, the action never reaching his eyes. "Well, that might be because you were."

She groaned and slowly brought her right hand up to cover her eyes, being mindful of the IV in her hand. "Can someone please turn out the damn light? I'm not in the tunnel. It doesn't have to be so fucking bright."

"Kagura, that's the sun," he said, his smile spreading in amusement.

"Well, do you think that God would turn the sun off if I asked Him really nicely?"

"I'm afraid it doesn't work that way." He stared at her for several minutes, the smile completely leaving his face before he spoke again. "What happened."

He didn't ask the question. He gave the order.

"I got home early. I found a man in my office. He was moving all of the files I had on Naraku onto a laptop. I tried to get to my gun, but I wasn't quick enough. Apparently the man has a fascination with knives. At least, that's what he said. I don't remember much after that. I guess I passed out. I take it you were the one who found me?"

"Yes. Why weren't you carrying your gun?"

"Well, I had left my issued revolver in my purse downstairs. My other gun was in my bedroom, under my pillow. That's the one I went for." Seeing his raised eyebrows, she shrugged and said simply, "It was closer."

He remained silent for a few moments, taking in the information. "Did you recognize the man who attacked you?"

"No. But he said that my brother sent him." She paused, seeing him tense. She could tell that he was just barely controlling his anger. "You know as well as I do that it's going to be nearly impossible to prove."

"Damn it!" he said loudly, rising from his chair. "That bastard nearly has you killed, abuses his wife, and now he's got all the information you had on him. He knows that we are onto him."

"Well, lucky for us, the bastard has always underestimated me and how good I am at what I do. He's never acknowledged that I might actually be good at something."

Sesshoumaru gave her a suspicious look. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on Sesshoumaru. Do you really think that I would keep all of my information on just one computer? Hell no! There are copies of all of the files on my computer at work, not to mention on two flash drives. One of them is in my purse and the other one is in my car."

He didn't say anything; he just stared at her. She stared back, noticing that his usually emotionless eyes held an emotion that she couldn't quite place. There was plenty of anger there, as well as what she took to be amusement at her response to her question. But there was something else there, something that she had never seen before in his eyes. She didn't allow herself to hope, knowing that the emotion she was hoping for was most likely the farthest thing from his mind.

He sighed and sat back down, his eyes never leaving hers. "I'm sorry, Kagura."

Out of everything she had been thinking he would say, she wasn't expecting that. "Sorry for what?" she asked in surprise and confusion.

"For letting this happen. I never should have put you in danger like that."

"Sesshoumaru, it is not your fault. Not in any way, shape, or form. And you never put me in danger. I've always been there, always been in danger. I had been meaning to look into his business practices for a long time before Kagome came to me, before you called me. I've always known that he was dirty. I've been living with the fact that my brother wants me dead for a long time. He just never had what you could call an open opportunity until now. I was lucky this time. I know that I might not be so lucky the next time."

"There isn't going to be a next time!" he yelled, his anger finally lashing out. "How can you lie there all calm when you know that your own brother basically put out a hit on you?"

"Because he's been trying to find a reason to kill me for years. Sesshoumaru, I lived with the man for 16 years. He's never felt anything but hate for me. I've had a hit on me for as long as I can remember."

"Well, there isn't going to be a next time, Kagura. He's not going to have another chance to hurt you, got it?"

"Oh, yeah? You know he's going to try again. How do you expect to stop him?"

"I will personally kill that bastard if he dares to try it again."

Kagura just stared at him in confusion. She couldn't make any sense out of what he was saying. This had nothing to do with him. Why was he making such a big deal out of it?

"I don't understand you."

"Well, I guess that makes us even because I don't understand you either. If my brother was trying to kill me, I'd fight back."

Kagura felt her own anger rise. "You don't think I've tried? I've been trying to fight back my entire life! You don't know what it's like. No one should have to fight for their life against their own brother."

Sesshoumaru watched in horror as the strongest person he knew broke down into tears. She was right. He didn't know what it was like. He had no idea what she had been through, what her own brother had done to her. And now she was crying, and he had no idea what to do.

"Kagura…. Kagura, please don't cry," he said, getting more nervous and jumpy by the minute. _Damn it! I can handle any hostage situation, but I can't bear to see a woman cry. No. Not just any woman. Her. Fuck… I'm going soft._

She closed her eyes, willing her tears to stop falling. "I'm just so tired, Sesshoumaru. I'm so damn tired of fighting back. He's taken everything I've had, everything that's ever made me happy. I just can't do this anymore."

He reached over to the bed and grabbed her hand, surprising them both. "Yes you can. You are the strongest person I have ever met, and I know that you can still fight back. But you won't be fighting alone."

She opened her eyes and stared into his eyes, not daring to hope. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you know that Kagome will fight with you. She's fighting back herself. And Inuyasha will fight, as well. He'd do anything to take down Naraku. And Sango and Miroku are trying to fight him, too. You have them."

"And… and I have you," she said, the question evident in her voice.

"Yes. And you have me."

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All of her friends were quiet when Sango arrived at work the next morning. Her office was empty, so she dropped all of her things and walked down the hall to Kagome and Inuyasha's office. She found Kagome sitting at her desk, her head in her hands, and the guys standing at the window. She walked into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Hey guys. What's wrong?"

Sango and Miroku and been in the field the previous night. Miroku hadn't learned of Kagura's attack until he arrived at work that morning.

Inuyasha looked over at her, and she could see the anger in his eyes. "You know how Kagome's sister-in-law has been helping us dig up some dirt on Naraku? Well, she was attacked yesterday. Whoever did it stole all of her information on Naraku."

"Oh my God. Does Sesshoumaru know?"

"He's the one who found her," Kagome said miserably as she lifted her head.

"Damn. I bet he's not taking that very well. We all know he has a thing for her. Is she going to be ok?"

Before anyone could answer, Inuyasha's cell phone began to ring. He immediately answered it with his usual "Takahashi."

As Inuyasha talked on his phone, Sango walked over to Kagome, sitting on top of her desk. "Kags, honey, what's wrong?"

"It's all my fault, Sango. I never should have asked her to do that. I should have known that he would find out about it."

"Kagome, you know very well that what happened to Kagura is not your fault in the slightest. Besides, didn't Sesshoumaru call her for help, as well? And you know her. She probably would have done it anyway."

"I know. But I still feel guilty."

"Well, don't!"

Inuyasha hung up the phone and turned to look at the others. "That was Sesshoumaru. Kagura woke up a little while ago. We need to go over to her house and look in her car and purse for flash drives. One of us also needs to go to her office and check out her computer. Apparently, Kagura made copies of all of her files on Naraku."

"Smart woman," Miroku commented.

"Yeah, well, we need to find them before anyone else does. We also need to look through all of the profiles of Naraku's men. Kagura said that the man who attacked her had a fascination with knives. We need to find him."

"Miroku can go to her office. Someone may be watching it, so Kagome probably shouldn't go there," Sango said.

"I agree. Actually," Inuyasha said, turning to Kagome. "I don't think you should go at all."

"What?!?" she exclaimed, rising from her seat.

"Well, someone needs to stay here and look through those profiles."

"Besides," Miroku cut in. "If anyone sees you at either place, word will get back to Naraku. We don't want what happened to Kagura to happen to you."

Kagome looked around at everyone's face, knowing that they were right. "Oh, alright. But you guys had better come back here and help look though those profiles. There are tons of them!"

"Don't worry, Kags," Sango said as the three of them headed for the door. "We'll be back before you know it."

Kagome sighed and walked out the door behind them, heading for archives. She had to get those profiles and take them up to her office.

_Well_, she thought a few minutes later as she carried a huge box into her office. _How hard can it be to find someone that uses knives?_

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Two hours later, was looking at yet another profile. She had looked through so many of them, her brain was starting to get frazzled.

And her friends still hadn't returned.

"Damn them," she muttered as she picked up another profile. "I'm _so_ gonna kick their asses when they get back."

She skimmed over the pages briefly, muttering "Definitely not," as she threw the folder to her growing pile of rejects and grabbed another one. She had gone through six large boxes full of profiles and she still hadn't found who she was looking for. So far she had encountered men with a fascination for everything from sex and guns to duct tape and barbed wire. There had been a few men that had used knives, but none of them were obsessed with them.

_Maybe I should take a break_, she thought as she picked up the last profile from her current box. As she looked at the man's picture, she couldn't help but think that he looked familiar.

A loud knock came from the door, and she jumped slightly. "Come in!" she said, trying not to sound too unsettled.

She was surprised when a man with long silvery white hair came walking through her door. "I just came by to see how everything was going."

"Sesshoumaru! I wasn't expecting you to come here. I thought that you were going to stay with Kagura."

"Well, I was. But she fell back asleep. I had nothing else to do, so I thought that maybe I could help out here." He looked at the boxes stacked up next to her desk. "What exactly are you doing?"

"Well, I'm looking through profiles of men known to have some kind of connection with Naraku. I'm trying to find the man that attacked Kagura, but I've had no luck so far."

"I can help with that." He walked over to where she had stacked unopened boxes next to the door and grabbed one, taking it over to Inuyasha's desk. He looked up and noticed that she was still staring at the same file she had been looking through when he arrived. "Is that him?"

"What?" she asked, looking up. "Oh. No. At least I doubt it. He just looks so familiar. What do you think?" she asked as she passed the folder to him. "Do you recognize him?"

"Let's see. Bankotsu Aikawa. Grand theft auto, suspected of targeted hit and runs. I don't recognize him, but he's pretty unique. Not many people carry out hits by killing them with their car." He looked at the file for a moment longer before handing it back to her. "I can ask around for you if you want."

"No, that's ok," she said absently as she put the folder in her stack of rejects. "I just… I just _know_ that I've seen him somewhere before…"

"Well, maybe you have. You never know. You might have seen him on TV and just don't remember."

"Yeah. That's probably it."

The two of them worked in silence for about an hour, their work interrupted by the arrival of Sango, Miroku, and Inuyasha.

Kagome stood, fire in her eyes as she glared at her friends. "Well, it took you guys long enough."

"Uh, well, you see Kagome," Miroku started. "We decided that it wouldn't be safe for any of us to go anywhere alone. So we all went together, which took longer since we had to go to both places."

"Is that right?" Kagome said, her eyebrow raised.

"Um... yes…?" Miroku answered in slight confusion.

"Well, why couldn't just two of you go and the other person come back here to help me?"

Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other in silence, Sango smiling slightly in Kagome's direction. Sesshoumaru smirked at them from across the room. "Idiots," he said under his breath.

"To tell you the truth, Kagome, that is exactly what I suggested," Sango said. "But they didn't think it was a good idea."

"Hey! We never said that!" Inuyasha interjected. "We simply said that it would be easier for the three of us to go ahead since we had already left."

"Inuyasha, we were still in the parking lot."

"Oh yeah."

Kagome shook her head and turned back to her desk. "Well, there are plenty of files left to go through. Thankfully Sesshoumaru showed up to help out."

Inuyasha walked over to his older brother. "You mean you actually chose to come down here and sift through paperwork like the rest of us mere mortals?"

Sesshoumaru matched Inuyasha's sarcastic smirk with one of his own. "Desperate times call for desperate measures." His smirk slowly disappeared, giving way to a strained grimace. "I had nothing else to do."

Noting the change in his brother's demeanor, Inuyasha moved to sit on the corner of his desk, grabbing a handful of files. "How's Kagura holding up?"

"As well as can be expected. Actually, she's holding up much better than I had expected. Apparently she's used to the fact that her brother is out to kill her."

Inuyasha saw his brother tense, the lines in his face creasing with anger and disgust. Before he could speak, his brother tossed the file he was holding into the stack of rejects, reaching up to thread his hand through his hair.

"You should have seen her, Inuyasha. I can't tell you how hard it is to see the strongest person you know have an emotional breakdown. It was almost like she had given up. She said that she couldn't take it anymore."

He paused there, and Inuyasha could see that he was thinking deeply about something. He could literally see his mind working as a look of contemplation crossed his features.

Sesshoumaru looked Inuyasha in the eyes, giving his brother a hard stare. "There's more to this than we think. There's got to be some reason that Naraku wants her dead."

Kagome chose that moment to speak up. She had been listening to their conversation from her desk, and had been thinking along the same lines as Sesshoumaru. "I might be able to help you there."

Sesshoumaru looked across the desk to his brother's partner, looking slightly annoyed at the fact that she had been eavesdropping. "What do you mean?"

"Naraku told me once that his sister had done something to him that could never be forgiven. Whatever it was she did had to be pretty serious because Naraku isn't the only one that feels that way. Apparently her whole family thinks that she has betrayed them in some way."

"What could she possibly do that would make her whole family feel that way?" Sango asked. Her and Miroku had made their way over to the others, throwing themselves into the conversation.

"You have to understand something about Naraku's family. They run the same way a Mafia family runs, though they aren't technically a Mafia family themselves. The men in the family have all of the control. The women are there to look pretty, to stand by their men at all costs. Now, we all know what Kagura's like. She not the type to just sit around and let a man have complete control over her life. I'm willing to bet that she defied her family by not conforming to the traditional role of women in the Shikon family."

They all remained silent, taking in the information. Sesshoumaru was the first one to speak.

"It makes sense. Look at her occupation. She a computer systems analyst, a computer hacker. If what you say is true Kagome, then I doubt that her family would appreciate her choice of career. Not only that, but she works for the government. She working for the opposite side of the law, working against them."

"If I were Mafia that would piss me off, too," Miroku mumbled.

"And she's not married."

Inuyasha gave Kagome a confused look at her statement. "What does that have to do with it?"

"Well, in Mafia families, daughters are set up in arranged marriages. These unions are usually political, used as ways to tie various Mafia families together. Now when Naraku told me about his sister, he said that a man by the name of Hakudoushi wasn't too pleased with her either."

"Who's Hakudoushi?" Sango asked.

"Hakudoushi is a member of the Youkai Mafia family. He's about the same age as Kagura. Kagura's father and Hakudoushi's father are 'business associates'. I think that Kagura was promised to Hakudoushi as a union between the two families. The Shikon's would have used her marriage into the Youkai family to branch off and make their own Mafia family. Kagura must have defied her family by refusing to marry Hakudoushi. Her family would undoubtedly feel betrayed by her refusal to connect them to a well known and prominent Mafia family."

"Well, if Hakudoushi Youkai has a grudge against her, maybe we should look through the men that work for him," Sango said. "Naraku is no idiot. He knows that using one of his own men would look too suspicious in regards to his own sister's attack."

"I agree," Sesshoumaru as he stood up. "It makes more sense that Naraku would hire someone that is not officially connected to him. I'll go and see what I can find out about Hakudoushi Youkai and his men. You guys continue to look through these files. You never know, Naraku might have assumed that we'd make the connection to the Youkai family and look there. He might have used one of his own men because he knew we would figure that hiring one of his own men wasn't something he'd do."

"Reverse psychology," Miroku said as he picked up a file lying on Kagome's desk.

"Exactly. I'll make some calls and head back out to the hospital. Call my cell if you find anything." And with that said, he walked across the room and into the hallway, closing the door behind him.

After he had left, Inuyasha let out a long sigh. "Man, he's not taking it well at all."

"He seemed to be handling things pretty well from what I could see," Miroku said.

"You don't know my brother like I do. He's just barely controlling his temper. If anything else happens to Kagura, then I truly feel sorry for the bastards behind it. Sesshoumaru would defy God himself for her, which is really saying something seeing as how Sesshoumaru is very religious."

"Your brother is religious?" Kagome said in slight shock. "I never would have guessed. He doesn't strike me as the type."

"He's a closet Christian. He's very private about his religion. He doesn't feel like its anyone's business but his."

"Hmmm. Well I can understand that," Sango said as she grabbed a file to look through. "My brother is the same way."

"Mine is, too," Kagome said on a sigh. "This is getting us nowhere." She threw down her file and threaded her hands through her hair in frustration.

"I've got a question."

"Yes Miroku?"

"Why aren't we using the online database?"

Everyone stared at him for a long moment, groaning inwardly at the realization.

"Fuck." Inuyasha said as he kicked a box on the floor next to him. "Why didn't we think of that?

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**So, tell me what you think. You know you want to… please? I'd love you forever if you would just review. Thanks in advance!**

**kaginufan88**


	5. It's You I Can't Deny

Kagura took the keys out of the ignition and put them in her pocket, wincing slightly as she reached over to open her car door

**Sorry about this being so late. I just don't have a lot of time anymore. I have the story planned out, I just don't have enough time to actually write it down. Thanks to everyone for the reviews, BTW.**

**Quick note: This chapter takes place two weeks after chapter four. The case has been getting no where and Kagura has been cooped up in her hospital room. Needless to say she hasn't been taking that too well. Well, I hope you like it!**

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**Dangerous Secrets chapter 5: It's You I Can't Deny**

Kagura took the keys out of the ignition and put them in her pocket, wincing slightly as she reached over to open her car door.

_Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to check out so early_, she thought as she carried her single bag of groceries up the front walk to her door.

She stopped walking when she heard the sound of a car screeching to a halt in her driveway. For a split second panic filled her heart, fear streaming like ice water through her veins. She forced herself to turn around, taking a step back in shock when she recognized the man walking towards her with fury in his eyes.

_Sesshoumaru._

"What are you doing here, Takahashi?" she asked when he stopped his approach, trying to keep her voice sounding normal.

"You know, that's exactly what I was going to ask you."

"Really?" she said with a nervous laugh. "Life's funny that way, huh."

"Oh yes, it's absolutely hilarious," he said, sarcasm dripping off of every word. He started to walk towards her again, and she could swear that she could actually see the anger emanating off of him. "So," he said, his tone clipped. "I see that you checked yourself out of the hospital. Without telling anyone."

She winced as a stab of guilt flashed through her system. "Well, you see, I couldn't tell you that I was leaving. You would have tried to stop me."

"Damn straight! I would have tied you to the damn bed!" He stopped walking, his body coming to a halt about three feet in front of her. "Are you out of your fucking mind?! Do you have any clue as to how much danger you're in here?"

"Yes, actually, I do. That's why I'm here. I'm not going to hide in some heavily guarded hospital room, waiting for something to try to get me. That would be letting Naraku win. I'm fighting back," she said with a smirk, throwing his past statement in his face. "You are the one who said that I should fight back."

He sighed heavily in annoyance. "Kagura, you know damn well that I didn't mean for you to jump headfirst into danger. Do have any fucking clue as to how scared I was when I walked into your hospital room this morning and found you gone? I was terrified. I thought that something bad had happened to you." He couldn't stop the streak of hurt that flashed across his features. _Damn, I hope she didn't see that._

She saw it.

"Sesshoumaru, I'm sorry, I really am. But I just couldn't stay there. You know that."

_two sides twist and then collide_

_you're calling off the guards (am I coming?)_

_I'm coming through (am I coming?)_

_adulteress conditioned to a spin cycle submission_

_you know sometimes it just feels better to give in_

_(sometimes it just feels better to give in)_

And the irony was that no matter how angry he was at her, he _did_ know that. Somewhere in the back of his mind he had known all along that wouldn't be able to stay in the safety of the hospital. Her damn pride and her stubborn need to fight wouldn't have allowed her to stay there for a long period of time. Hell, he would have left a lot sooner than she had.

"Yeah. Yeah I do know that," he said softly. "I just wish to hell that I didn't."

_and it's all too familiar_

_and it happens all the time_

_all the cards begin to stack up_

_twisting heartache into fine_

_little pieces that avoid an awful crime_

_but it's you I can't deny_

_(you I can't deny)_

They simply stood there staring at each other, both of them helplessly lost in the sudden jolt of electricity as silent emotions passed between them. Neither of them knew who moved first, but somehow they ended up only inches apart, his hand moving up to cup her cheek. She leaned into his touch, her eyes never leaving his.

Their eyes were still on each other as she dropped her bag of groceries to reach up and pull him towards him, their eyes still connected when his hand dropped to her waist and pulled her body closer to his. Only when their lips finally met, when they felt the flames of desire reach up to race through them, did their eyes finally close.

_dull heat rises from the sheets_

_I'm both a patient boy _

_and a jealous man (am I coming?)_

_but double standards and suspicion_

_is remedied, oh my blue heaven_

_sometimes it just feels better to give in_

_(sometimes it just feels better to give in)_

Their kisses were slow at first, both of them reveling in emotions that they had never felt before. Unbridled passion swept through them, and their kisses soon became more frenzied. She grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards the house. He began to follow, but suddenly their kiss was broken as he lost his balance, nearly falling as he stepped on something lying on the walk.

"What the fuck..." he muttered as he bent down to see what he had stepped on.

_and it's all too familiar_

_and it happens all the time_

_all the cards begin to stack up_

_twisting heartache into fine_

_little pieces that avoid an awful crime_

_but it's you I can't deny_

_(you I can't deny)_

Kagura struggled to keep from laughing, but she couldn't stop the laughs from coming when he stood back up holding a plastic bottle in his hand.

"Coke?" he said in puzzlement with a bewildered look on his face.

That just made her laugh harder. "I kinda forgot about the groceries," she managed to get out before she started laughing again.

"I really don't see the funny in this."

"I'm sorry, honey. It's just... the look on your face was priceless!" She managed to quit laughing, but she appeared to be struggling with it

_we swing and we sway_

_as this tiny voice in my head starts to sing_

"_you are safe child you are safe"_

_(you're safe child you are safe)_

"_you're safe child you are safe"_

_we swing and we sway_

_as this tiny voice in my head starts to sing_

"_you are safe child you are safe,_

_you're safe child you are safe (safe, safe) you are safe"_

He couldn't help but start laughing too when she broke down into giggles. They stood there for a few minutes, laughing at each other. Neither one of them could ever remember being so carefree, laughing at nothing but a Coke bottle. As their laughter died down, they both realized that they had never felt so carefree and happy with anyone else.

_we swing and we sway_

_as this tiny voice I my head starts to sing_

"_you are safe child you are safe_

_you are safe child you are safe"_

_(am I?) coming through?_

"Let's get this stuff picked up and go inside," he suggested.

She nodded, pulling her keys out of her pocket. "I'll go ahead and unlock the door," she said, leaving him to get the groceries. She ran up to the door and unlocked it, pushing the door open and walking inside with the intention of going on back to the kitchen. What she saw stopped her in her tracks.

Her house was in shambles. The table in the entryway was strewn across the floor in pieces, along with from her mirror that used to hang on the wall. She took a few steps forward, looking into her living room to find it in the same state of disrepair.

"Kagura, where do you want me to put..." His words trailed off as he took in the destruction, dropping the bag of groceries to the floor. "Holy..." He walked into the living room, reaching out to her. "Kagura..?"

She had gone pale, staring in shock at what had been done to her house.

"This isn't the work of someone looking for something. They did this just because they could," she said before turning to go out into the hall. Before he knew what was happening, she started up the stairs.

"Kagura! Shit!" He sighed and hurried to follow her up the stairs. She had walked to the door at the end of the hall, ignoring the other rooms. When he reached her she was frozen in place, horror etched onto her face as she stared at the door. "Kagura, what's wrong?"

She reached a hand up to the key that hung around her neck, pulling it hard until the chain broke. He was about to say something when she reached for the door, tearing off of it a sheet of paper that he hadn't noticed.

"What is that?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he reached over and grabbed the paper. As he looked it she reached down and unlocked the door, forcing it open and walking into the room. Sesshoumaru looked up and was confused by the sight before him.

It appeared to have once been a child's room, but it was obvious that it hadn't been used in several years. The window was open and the breeze that was coming through it was blowing papers around the room. Taped to every surface in the room was the same copied picture of a younger Kagura and a laughing little girl that had been posted outside.

He looked over at Kagura in confusion, only to see silent tears streaming down her face. "Kagura?"

She looked at him, staring him in the eyes for a few moments. She suddenly fell in a dead faint, and Sesshoumaru barely caught her before she hit the floor. When he realized that she had fainted, he made an instant decision.

He picked her up, carefully carrying her down the stairs and out the front door to his car. He settled her into the front seat, then closed the car door and hurried back into the house. He ran up the stairs, back to the room at the end of the hall. He grabbed several of the papers, stuffing them into his pocket. He looked around noticing small details, traces that a child once lived there. A worn doll laying on the pint sized bed. A music box sitting on the dresser, covered in dust. He walked over to the closet, reading the name off the small wooden sign hanging there. "Natsumi." He whispered the name to himself, realizing that there were things about Kagura that he didn't know about. She had never mentioned ever having a daughter, but here was the child's room, with pictures of her and her mother strewn all over the place.

He walked out of the room, grabbing the metal key from the lock before he hurried down the stairs. When he reached his car, he looked over at the unconscious woman in the seat next to him. Something had happened to her daughter, Natsumi. He knew that whatever had happened, she had never really gotten over it. It still hurt her.

_is this all too familiar?_

_does it happen all the time?_

_I'm just asking you to hear me_

_could you please just once just hear me?_

_more than anything you wanted to be right_

_still it's you, you, it's you I can't deny_

_(you I can't deny) it's you I can't deny_

And at that moment, he knew that he was going to do everything in his power to make that pain go away and replace it with happiness. He had fallen in love with her, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Now all he had to do was convince her that her place was at his side_._

_Damn. I've got my work cut out for me. Nice going Sesshoumaru. You just had to fall in love with the one woman that requires the most work. Smooth._

He smiled slightly at his thoughts knowing that whatever he had to do for her, she was worth it.

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The first thing that Kagura noticed when she awoke was that she was in a bed. A very comfortable one. She didn't dare open her eyes for fear of a repeat of the sun incident that had occurred in the hospital. With the exception of the sound of wind blowing through some trees outside an open window, the room was silent.

_Where the hell am I? _ She knew for a fact that she wasn't back in the hospital. The bed was too comfortable and the room was too quiet. She shifted her head, the sudden movement making her realize that she had a major headache. She groaned softly and brought her hand up to cover her face.

She heard a door open and opened her eyes to see an older woman walk in with a covered tray. Seeing Kagura's open eyes, she put down the tray and came over to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Well, you're finally awake! You had me worried there for a while. You've been asleep almost all day."

"Excuse me, but who are you?" she asked, confusion marking her features.

"Oh! I'm sorry. My name is Izayoi Takahashi. My oldest son Sesshoumaru is the one who brought you here."

Kagura looked around the room, noticing how… expensive everything looked. "Where am I exactly?"

"You're at the Takahashi mansion. My sons share the house. It was left to them by my late husband."

"Why did he bring me here?"

"Well, I'm not sure. He said something about your house not being safe, and something else about some Naraku person. He was in a hurry. He said that something unexpected had come up and that I needed to watch you while he went on to work."

"He did, now did he?" she asked as she sat up.

Izayoi smiled slightly at the irritation in Kagura's voice. "Yes, he did. He told me to tell you when you woke up that you are not to leave this house by yourself."

"Oh really? The man saves my life once and he thinks that he can tell me what to do."

Izayoi's smile turned into a laugh at Kagura's reaction to her son's stupidity. "He thinks he's doing the right thing." He smile vanished as she remembered the look on her son's face when he had arrived hours before. "He was really worried about you, Kagura. And he was absolutely furious with whoever trashed your house."

"He's probably looking into my past right now."

"Why would he be doing that? You're not a criminal, are you?"

"No," Kagura said, laughing slightly as she looked down at her hands. "And he knows that. But after today… he'll want answers."

"Will giving him answers be such a bad thing to do?"

Kagura looked up quickly and stared at the mother of the man she had fallen in love with in the eyes. Concern stared back at her. Concern not for Sesshoumaru, but for _her_. And that concern was melded with something Kagura had not expected.

Understanding.

"I hope not," she whispered.

And with that, Kagura began her story about scarred young woman and a child's empty bedroom.

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By the time Sesshoumaru arrived home later on that night, his mother knew more about the woman he loved than he did.

He closed the front door, making to walk up the stairs when the sound of female laughter from the living room reached his ears. He paused, smiling, before walking down the hall to the living room. What he saw when he arrived quickly took the smile off of his face, replaced with a look of shocked horror.

_Not the photo albums!_

His mother and Kagura sat on one of the couches, facing away from him. From where he was standing he could see the numerous family photo albums spread out on the coffee table. He walked up behind them, wincing as he saw the picture they were currently looking at.

_Not that one!_

The picture was of a six-year-old Sesshoumaru and a two-year-old Inuyasha sharing a bubble bath. Both of them had 'bubble hats' and were playing with toys as their mother took pictures.

Turning the page, his mother said, "And this one was taken when we went to the lake house. There's this huge field of flowers and Sesshoumaru would make me flower chains."

"Aww! That's the most adorable thing I've ever seen!"

"Mother, I see you just had to pull out the pictures."

The two women jumped at the sound of his face, both of them turning to him with identical looks of feigned innocence.

"Well, you see, darling, Kagura and I were talking about… uh… family pictures, and I just had to show her ours since she didn't have hers with her."

"Were you?"

"That's right, we were," Kagura spoke up. "We were discussing how precious pictures are, about how wonderful it is to be able to look back at pictures and remember… things."

"Right." He shook his head and sighed, turning to walk back out into the hall and into the kitchen. A smile appeared on his face when he heard their burst of laughter after he had left the room.

He opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Coke, reflecting on what he had learned that day. After he dropped Kagura off at the house, he had gone into work to find anything he could about Kagura and a child named Natsumi. He now knew the details from a case standpoint, but knew that he wasn't going to really _know_ anything until she told him her account on what happened.

He looked up as his mother walked into the room alone. "Where's Kagura?" he asked, peering over her shoulder and into the hallway.

"I sent her back upstairs to her room." She went to the refrigerator, pulling out a bottle of water. "I had a nice long talk with her after she woke up earlier this afternoon."

"Did you?" he asked casually, taking another sip of his Coke.

"I did. You need to talk to her, Sesshoumaru. You might be surprised as to how much this woman has had to deal with. Any other woman would have given up on life by now, but she is holding strong. I can see why you like her."

"I don't just like her anymore, Mom."

"Oh… I see. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I approve. And I'm sure that your father would approve, as well."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

Izayoi stared him in the eyes, nodding in understanding. "Like I said, you need to talk to her. She is afraid that you are going to think badly of her when you learn of her past."

"I know about her past. Why would I feel badly about her?"

"I think that she holds herself responsible for what happened to the child."

He set his Coke down on the table, immediately heading for the stairs. Izayoi watched as her oldest son left, hoping that he didn't say anything stupid. Those two were perfect for each other.

She picked up his Coke and set it back in the refrigerator. Now she only had one single son left, and she knew exactly who the right woman for him was. All she had to do was figure out a way to get Kagome away from her abusive husband and into Inuyasha's arms.

_Piece of cake_, she thought sarcastically as she took her bottle of water up the stairs with her to bed.

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Kagura pulled down the covers on the bed, reflecting on her earlier conversation with Izayoi.

"_You can't let things that happened in the past dictate your future. What happened was horrible and tragic, but you need to move on. You can move on."_

She had never met anyone who had understood everything she had been through. And she had to admit that she liked having someone to talk to.

She sat down on the bed, knowing that Sesshoumaru would be coming to talk to her eventually. He had to understand. She had no doubt that he had read the case file. But he wouldn't understand what happened because the truth wasn't written down on department issued police forms. She alone knew the truth.

She didn't look up at him when he walked through the open doorway, didn't raise her eyes to him when he sat in the chair across from her. They sat in silence for a while, neither knowing how to bring up the subject. Finally, she decided that she was the one who would have to bring it up.

"Sesshoumaru, we need to talk about what happened today." She said, keeping her voice quiet.

"I agree."

"What exactly did you find out today?"

He shrugged. The fact that she knew what he had been doing not surprising him at all. "I read what was written in the case file. The basics. What really happened?"

"Where do you want me to start?"

"At the beginning."

She took a deep breath, trying to steady herself before she started. "I was really young when it happened. I had a late class at the University, and I was parked in the far parking lot. He must have been following me, waiting for the opportune moment. The details of what he did to me aren't important. A few weeks later, I found out that I was pregnant. I was in shock to say the least."

She looked up at him with a smile, and he could see a softness in her eyes that he had never seen before. "She was such a beautiful little girl. And she was quiet, too. Such an easy child. We were happy for those first few years, both of us learning things from the other. And then she started kindergarten."

She looked down again, the smile disappearing from her face. "I had broken down and had started working for my brother. I needed the money. No one could match his wages, and I told myself that it was worth the sacrifice to have the extra money for Natsumi."

She paused then, closing her eyes to collect herself before continuing on with her story.

"I was late picking her up from school that day. My friend Kaede was teaching there at the time, and she would take Natsumi to the park when she knew I was going to be late. She said that she never saw the car coming, that it came out of nowhere. Natsumi was too far ahead of her. Kaede called out for her, but she couldn't reach her. By the time she got to her, it was too late.

"I pulled up outside the park about five minutes later. I didn't see them anywhere, but I saw the ambulance out on the road. I thought that maybe they had walked over there to see what had happened. But I still couldn't find them. Kaede saw me first, and called out to me. I didn't understand why she was over there, why she was crying so hard. I ran over to where she was, and all she could say was that she was so sorry. I asked her where Natsumi was, and she just cried harder and kept apologizing. I got frantic. She tried to stop me, but I ran over to where the paramedics were. I saw the broken lunch box on the road, and I knew that it was hers. I don't remember anything else but her. They said that I went crazy, that they had to hold me back so that they could try to save her. I guess I got so exhausted from fighting them that I passed out. I didn't find out that she had died until hours later when I woke up in the emergency room."

She looked up at him then, her face wet from tears and her eyes red. "A hit and run, Sesshoumaru. My daughter died in a hit and run accident at the age of five."

"I know," he whispered, getting out of the chair and walking over to sit next to her. "Keep going," he said as he reached down to grab her hand.

"I really went crazy then. I knew that I needed help. I checked myself into a mental hospital. I was there for about two months. When I got out, I did everything I could to try and find the bastard that killed her. The police weren't any help. They kept talking about not having any leads and having to do things by the book. I tried to tell them that I knew where to start, but they wouldn't listen. I was nothing more than a criminal to them."

"A criminal? Why did they consider you a criminal"

"I was a different person then, Sesshoumaru. You see, I didn't have my own business then. I already told you that I worked for my brother. I ran all of his little background checks and did all of his research for him. I didn't realize at first what I was doing, that I was inadvertently helping him kill people."

She looked up to stare him in the eyes. "I've never told anyone about that. You should be blaming me for something; you should be angry and hurt that I would do something like that. If I were you, I would hate me."

"I have no reason to hate you, Kagura. You said yourself that you didn't realize what you were doing. And apparently you quit working for him when you found out, so why would I hate you?"

"You should hate me because I'm the one who got my daughter killed."

"Kagura, it was an accident."

"That's what the police report says, but I know the truth. You see, I made a promise to her. I told her that I was always going to be there for her, that nothing bad would ever happen to her. But I lied. I wasn't there for her when she needed me the most. I promised myself when she was born that things would be different for her."

He reached over and pulled her against him.

"Kagura, Natsumi's death was not your fault. The only one to blame is the man who was driving the car. You didn't break your promise to her. You did everything that you could."

"I know that deep down, but I just can't get past it," she said quietly, tears streaming down her face to soak his shirt.

"No one is supposed to get past something like that, Kagura. But you can move on. You are the strongest person that I have ever known. I know that you can do it. You just have to want it enough."

They sat that way for a long time, her tears eventually stopping. He moved slightly, wanting to make himself more comfortable.

"Don't leave," she whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered back.

He maneuvered himself onto the bed, pulling her down to lay next to him. He held her close to him, his arm wrapped around her waist, pressing her to him. "Go to sleep," he whispered, and he felt her body relax. He closed his eyes, breathing in her scent. Eventually her breaths evened out into a deep sleep, and he let the rhythm of her breathing lull him into a slumber of his own.

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**So, what do you guys think? Let me know. REVIEW!!**


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